TheSocialCMO – Page 6 – THE SOCIAL CMO Blog

Your Workforce is Disengaged: Here’s What To Do About it

August 16, 2014 by TheSocialCMO

Change is in the air. With disruptive technologies hitting businesses from the outside in and the inside out, how companies invest in technology and ultimately how people use it to get work done is under significant re-evaluation. At the same time, the rising workforce clash between older and younger generations is also pushing HR to radically reform management processes and education programs.

Indeed, change is the air. In fact it’s imminent. But change is never programmatic nor is it ever easy. And, all too often, change is a reactive response to areas of disruption rather than a proactive step to head it off.

Big Brands and the Mind Shift to Social Paid

August 5, 2014 by TheSocialCMO

Earlier this year, popular food delivery site Eat24 wrote the ultimate “Dear John” letter to Facebook, outlining all the reasons why their relationship could not stand the test of ROI. The deal-breaker: Facebook’s new and improved algorithm.

Like Eat24 said, “Not to be rude, but … You’ve changed. A lot.”

Thirty Years of Projects

August 2, 2014 by TheSocialCMO

I realized the other day that most people grow up thinking in terms of professional affiliations. “I’m going to be an accountant.” “I’m going to work for General Dynamics.”

Somehow, I always thought of my career as a series of projects, not jobs. Projects… things to be invented, funded and shipped. Sometimes they take on a life of their own and last, other times, they flare and fade. But projects, one after the other, mark my career. Lucky for me, the world cooperated and our entire culture shifted from one based on long-term affilitations (you know, ‘jobs’) to projects.

I had a two-part approach to building a career about projects. The first was to find a partner who was willing to own the lion’s share of the upside in exchange for advancing resources allowing me to create the work (but always keeping equity in the project, not doing it merely for hire). Publishers are good at this, and it enabled me to bootstrap my way to scale. The second was to grow a network, technology and the confidence to be able to take on projects too big for the typical solo venture. Complicated projects, on time, is a niche that’s not very crowded…

Digital Transformation and the New Customer Experience

April 19, 2014 by TheSocialCMO

We’re under attack! Social, mobile, real-time, cloud, big data…it’s coming at us all at once! Rather than miss out, many brands are jumping from trend to trend as a way of staying relevant in an increasingly digital market.

Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Foursquare, Instagram, Pinterest…we’re covered. We have and had a strategy for a while now.

Mobile. Yep, we’ve got an app for that…plus we’ve got adaptive and responsive web design that makes old sites new again!

Snapchat…our brilliant strategy vanishes in 5,4,3,2,1.

Jelly? We’ve got the answer.

Thinking lifetime (don’t break the chain)

April 19, 2014 by TheSocialCMO

The traveling salesman, the carnival barker and the old-time businessman can hit and run. Make the sale, cut your costs, move on.

Today, though, in the connection economy, two huge factors are at work:

1. Subscription. The lifetime value of a customer is high and getting higher. You might buy $50,000 from one grocery store over time. If you own an inkjet printer, it might come to a thousand dollars a year in toner expenses, with a profit margin approaching 90%…

2. Spreading the word. Every customer is also a media outlet and a publisher if she chooses to be. That means that unhappy news spreads far and fast (and that remarkable products and services need lower ad budgets).

But this seems to be almost impossibly difficult for companies to embrace. A simple example:

Logistics, Systems Key to Social Business Customer Experience

February 11, 2014February 11, 2014 by TheSocialCMO

Recently IBM Connect 2014 in Orlando was a great opportunity to catch up with a number of thought leaders and frontline practitioners working every day to bring Social Business to life.

Numerous reports have been emerging showing that anywhere from 50 to 70% of both B2B and B2C sales in coming years will be driven via the web through online and social marketing channels making the movement to a social business approach a must for leading firms.

How to Use Social Media at a Trade Show

January 18, 2014 by TheSocialCMO

You’ve reserved a prominent location, prepared your booth, and trained your sales team. Now what? Preparing for a trade show isn’t easy, and making the most of the opportunities a trade show provides can be very difficult for a first-timer.

One of the best ways to capitalise on your first trade show is to use social media to enhance your business’s presence. These five tips have been provided by trade show product supplier Display Wizard to help you succeed at your next trade show.

Business Transformation: Why General Motors is Investing in Customer Experience

January 18, 2014 by TheSocialCMO

As editorial director and conference producer of The Pivot Conference, I have the privilege to meet with the people who are bringing about real change inside organizations. During the 2013 conference, I had the chance to interview Dr. Rebecca Harris (@RebeccaHarrisDr), who leads the Social Media Center of Expertise at General Motors in Detroit. Her role is all about transformation and integration as she works across brands and around the world on social strategy, social tools, social processes, points-of-view on multiple social topics, and overall integration between brands, divisions and countries.

Which charity?

December 30, 2013December 30, 2013 by TheSocialCMO

Organized non-profits provide reach, leverage and consistency that can’t be matched by the millenia-old model of individuals helping those they encounter in the community. It’s one of the extraordinary success stories of the industrial age that they’ve been able to have such a worldwide impact with relatively few resources. As our choices continue to increase (yes, there’s now a long tail of philanthropy), it gets ever more important that we make conscious choices about what to support and how.

Omni-channel Emerging as Top Retail Logistics Issue

December 14, 2013 by TheSocialCMO

December is now upon us and before we know it we’ll be starting off 2014 right, which means it won’t be long until we’re all gathering in San Diego Feb 23^rd to 26^th for RILA Supply Chain 2014.

Last year in Florida at RILA Logistics 2013, the topic of multi-channel was discussed with 5 related presentations delivered where the challenges of the coming omni-channel revolution were laid down.

RILA Supply Chain 2014 will highlight this ongoing evolution from a discrete multi-channel stream to a full track entitled Omni-channel which includes the 4 interesting presentations identified below: